BERLIN (AP) — Ukraine is preparing a counteroffensive designed to liberate Russian-occupied areas, not attack Russian territory, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday.
During a press conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s goal is to liberate territories within its internationally recognized borders.
There has been speculation that Ukraine could try to capture areas in Russia and use them as a bargaining chip in possible peace negotiations to end the war launched by Moscow in February 2022.
“We did not attack Russian territory, we liberated our own legitimate territory,” Zelenskyy said when pressed by reporters on the issue.
“We have neither the time nor the strength (to attack Russia),” he said, according to an official interpreter. “And we don’t have any weapons left over, with which we could do that.”
“We are preparing a counterattack for the illegally occupied areas based on our legitimate borders defined by the constitution, which are internationally recognized,” Zelenksyy said.
The president is visiting his allies to ask for new arms deliveries to help his country repel the Russian invasion and rebuild what was destroyed during more than a year of devastating conflict.
The day before his arrival, which took place amid tight security, the German government announced a new military assistance package for Ukraine worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion) that includes tanks, anti-aircraft systems and other accoutrements.
Zelenskyy thanked Scholz for Germany’s political, financial and military support, saying the country is second only to the United States in aid provided to Ukraine, joking that he was working to make it the top donor.
Scholz made it clear that kyiv can count on Germany to continue to help.
“We will help them for as long as it takes,” he said, adding that it was up to Russia to end the war by withdrawing its troops.
After initial doubts about supplying Ukraine with lethal weapons, Germany has become one of kyiv’s main suppliers of war materiel. Weapons include Leopard 1 and 2 tanks, and the modern IRIS-T SLM air defense system.
The West’s modern warfare equipment is considered crucial if Ukraine is to carry out its planned counter-offensive against Russian forces effectively.
Zelenskyy first met with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the head of state who received cold treatment from kyiv last year, apparently because of his longstanding ties to Russia. That cooled diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Germany.
Since then, both Steinmeier and Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz have visited Ukraine and reiterated to Zelenskyy their support for Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion.
Following their meeting with Scholz and other senior officials at the foreign ministry, both rulers are scheduled to fly to the western city of Aachen, where Zelenskyy will receive the International Charlemagne Prize together with the people of Ukraine.
Organizers said the prize recognizes that Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion constitutes the defense “not only of the sovereignty of its country and the lives of its citizens, but of Europe and European values.”
Although German leaders have reiterated their strong support for Ukraine, voters are divided on whether the country should provide more weapons, particularly the advanced fighter jets that kyiv has requested.
